DASSAULT/DORNIER ALPHA JET

The Alpha Jet, which was designed as a light attack jet and advanced trainer aircraft, made its debut in the 1970s and came to be called the "perfect airplane" because of its aesthetically and aerodynamically superior design. The excellent flying characteristics of this craft, which was developed jointly by the Dassault, Breguet and Dornier companies, won over around a dozen air forces.

The Flying Bulls' Alpha Jets are something really special: the Flying Bulls acquired two of them in 1997 – but they were unfit to fly and suitable for display purposes only. In 2000 there was a unique opportunity to purchase two airworthy examples from the German Armed Forces. It took another five years to get them approved for the purposes of the Flying Bulls. Three years after the initial purchase, two more aircraft were acquired. They were also extensively overhauled and today they are a real rarity: they are the only aircraft of their type in the world to have been demilitarised and authorised for civil use, plus they also possess a noise certificate – something which was extremely difficult to achieve, given that this is generally a foreign concept when dealing with military aircraft. Moreover, visitors of AIRPOWER16 can look forward to seeing two Alpha Jets of the Portuguese air force.